2014 Statewide CPA Trust Fund Distribution Announced
Nov. 12, 2014: The Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) today released the Community Preservation Trust Fund distribution for each CPA municipality. In accordance with Section 10 of the CPA legislation, DOR annually distributes monies from the fund to cities and towns that have adopted CPA. The revenue from this year's trust fund distribution comes from two sources: the recording fees collected over the past 12 months at the state's Registries of Deeds plus $11.4 million from the state's FY2014 budget surplus. In total, more than $36 million will be distributed to the 155 communities eligible for a distribution.
All CPA communities will receive a 31.46% match on round one of the trust fund distribution this year. Communities that adopted CPA with a full 3% local property tax surcharge will receive additional revenue on rounds two and three.
Despite a steep decline in collections at the Registries of Deeds over the past twelve months, the dollar amount of this year's distribution is still the second highest since 2008. This is primarily due to the $11.4 million from the state's FY14 budget surplus that was added to the CPA Trust Fund. The Coalition had advocated for the surplus funding last spring, and the FY15 state budget included a promise of $25 million for the trust fund from the FY14 surplus. Ultimately however, budget pressures over the summer led the legislature to pass an $89 million FY14 supplemental spending bill on October 31st, resulting in the smaller-than-expected surplus of $11.4 million. Last year the Trust Fund had received the full $25 million from the surplus.
To determine the exact distribution each community receives, DOR follows a formula in the CPA legislation that calls for up to three rounds of trust fund distributions. Click here to learn more about how the statewide trust fund distribution works.
Statistics From This Year's Distribution:
- Total municipalities qualifying for a trust fund distribution on November 15, 2014: 155
- Match percentage received by municipalities with a CPA local property tax surcharge of less than 3%: 31.46%
- Match percentage received by municipalities with the maximum CPA local property tax surcharge of 3%: Range of 31.46% to 100%
- Number of municipalities receiving a full 100% match: 10
- Average percentage match statewide: 42.70%
- Total payout in first round distribution: $31,528,644
- Total payout in second round distribution: $2,992,856
- Total payout in third round distribution: $1,615,004
- Total payout for all rounds: $36,136,504